England coach Andy Flower said he was not surprised by how hard his side was pushed by Australia and expects more of the same in the second Test at Lord's, which begins on Thursday.
"We never for a moment thought that this match or the series would be a walkover," said Flower as he reflected on his side's 14-run win.
"I know we hear the odd thing in the media predicting some funny results, but we always knew this would be a tough battle. This is a really good example and I'm sure it will be a tough fight for the remainder of the series."
England named an unchanged squad on Monday for Lord's, with attention focused on whether fast bowler Steven Finn, not at his best in the second innings, would be retained in the starting XI for a match at his Middlesex home ground.
There were also concerns as to whether James Anderson, the fulcrum of England's attack, would be able to recover in time after a punishing first Test where he bowled 13 successive overs Sunday on his way to a decisive match haul of 10 wickets.
"It will have taken something out of all the players involved," said Flower of what he said was a "sensational game".
"But that's why our guys work so hard on their fitness and they are mentally resilient — they have shown that.
"Over a number of our Test campaigns, [they have] come out on top because of that resilience and I expect them to show that at Lord's in the second Test."
As well as praising Alastair Cook's "strength and calmness as a captain", Flower also highlighted the contributions of Anderson and Ian Bell, whose second innings 109 was the only century of the match, to England's victory.
"Jimmy Anderson, particularly, again showed his skill and class," he said.
"Ian Bell obviously showed real skill, but also, I think more importantly, a real determination and courage out there in the middle to bat like he did."
Meanwhile, Flower defended Stuart Broad over his refusal to walk during the second innings.
The all-rounder had edged a ball from debutant spinner Ashton Agar via wicketkeeper Brad Haddin's gloves to Australia captain Michael Clarke at slip.
Broad, on 37 out of his eventual 65 during a key partnership with Bell, stood his ground after experienced umpire Aleem Dar ruled he was not out.
It appeared a clear deflection to many with the naked eye and all the more so on video replay.
But as Australia had used up their two permitted innings challenges under the Decision Review System, they had no way of overturning Dar's verdict.
However, former Zimbabwe batsman Flower said: "Stuart Broad, like every other batsman in international cricket, has the right to wait for the umpire to make his decision.
"The umpire's job is to make those decisions."
He added: "I think that using the review system is the correct way for international cricket to go, because we get more decisions right using it."
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
